diff --git a/include/field.h b/include/field.h
index ca29fa43..0b6307a2 100644
--- a/include/field.h
+++ b/include/field.h
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <sparsepp.h>
 #include <tsl/htrie_map.h>
 #include "json.hpp"
+#include <regex>
 
 namespace field_types {
     // first field value indexed will determine the type
@@ -278,11 +279,17 @@ struct field {
                                               const std::string & default_sorting_field,
                                               nlohmann::json& fields_json) {
         bool found_default_sorting_field = false;
+        const std::regex sequence_id_pattern(".*_sequence_id$");
 
         // Check for duplicates in field names
         std::map<std::string, std::vector<const field*>> unique_fields;
 
         for(const field & field: fields) {
+            if (std::regex_match(field.name, sequence_id_pattern)) {
+                // Don't add foo_sequence_id field.
+                continue;
+            }
+
             unique_fields[field.name].push_back(&field);
 
             if(field.name == "id") {
diff --git a/src/collection_manager.cpp b/src/collection_manager.cpp
index 0fb4d5be..f1540932 100644
--- a/src/collection_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/collection_manager.cpp
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ Collection* CollectionManager::init_collection(const nlohmann::json & collection
         }
 
         fields.push_back(f);
+
+        if (!f.reference.empty()) {
+            fields.emplace_back(field(f.name + "_sequence_id", "string", false, f.optional, true));
+        }
     }
 
     std::string default_sorting_field = collection_meta[Collection::COLLECTION_DEFAULT_SORTING_FIELD_KEY].get<std::string>();
diff --git a/src/field.cpp b/src/field.cpp
index a48c4637..4275577a 100644
--- a/src/field.cpp
+++ b/src/field.cpp
@@ -700,7 +700,7 @@ Option<bool> field::json_field_to_field(bool enable_nested_fields, nlohmann::jso
     if (!field_json[fields::reference].get<std::string>().empty()) {
         the_fields.emplace_back(
                 field(field_json[fields::name].get<std::string>() + "_sequence_id", "string", false,
-                      false, true)
+                      field_json[fields::optional], true)
         );
     }
 
diff --git a/test/collection_join_test.cpp b/test/collection_join_test.cpp
index 81a311bb..f57895d4 100644
--- a/test/collection_join_test.cpp
+++ b/test/collection_join_test.cpp
@@ -92,10 +92,10 @@ TEST_F(CollectionJoinTest, SchemaReferenceField) {
 
     ASSERT_EQ(schema.at("customer_name").reference, "");
     ASSERT_EQ(schema.at("product_id").reference, "Products.product_id");
-    ASSERT_EQ(schema.count("product_id_sequence_id"), 1);
 
-    auto field = schema.at("product_id_sequence_id");
-    ASSERT_TRUE(field.index);
+    // Index a `foo_sequence_id` field for `foo` reference field.
+    ASSERT_EQ(schema.count("product_id_sequence_id"), 1);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(schema.at("product_id_sequence_id").index);
 
     collectionManager.drop_collection("Customers");
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/collection_manager_test.cpp b/test/collection_manager_test.cpp
index 882f92fd..dd4debd2 100644
--- a/test/collection_manager_test.cpp
+++ b/test/collection_manager_test.cpp
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ TEST_F(CollectionManagerTest, CollectionCreation) {
               "locale":"",
               "name":"product_id",
               "nested":false,
-              "optional":false,
+              "optional":true,
               "sort":false,
               "type":"string",
               "reference":"Products.product_id"
@@ -351,7 +351,11 @@ TEST_F(CollectionManagerTest, RestoreRecordsOnRestart) {
     std::string json_line;
 
     while (std::getline(infile, json_line)) {
-        collection1->add(json_line);
+        auto op = collection1->add(json_line);
+        if (!op.ok()) {
+            LOG(INFO) << op.error();
+        }
+        ASSERT_TRUE(op.ok());
     }
 
     infile.close();
@@ -434,6 +438,7 @@ TEST_F(CollectionManagerTest, RestoreRecordsOnRestart) {
     ASSERT_EQ(4, results["hits"].size());
 
     tsl::htrie_map<char, field> schema = collection1->get_schema();
+    ASSERT_EQ(schema.count("product_id_sequence_id"), 1);
 
     // recreate collection manager to ensure that it restores the records from the disk backed store
     collectionManager.dispose();
@@ -472,6 +477,7 @@ TEST_F(CollectionManagerTest, RestoreRecordsOnRestart) {
     ASSERT_TRUE(restored_schema.at("person").nested);
     ASSERT_EQ(2, restored_schema.at("person").nested_array);
     ASSERT_EQ(128, restored_schema.at("vec").num_dim);
+    ASSERT_EQ(restored_schema.count("product_id_sequence_id"), 1);
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(collection1->get_enable_nested_fields());